No more a burden!

Declining sex ratio (male/female) has very little to do with enforcement of law but has got everything to do with people's attitude. By enforcing the law we can save a couple of unborn  children but by changing the mindset of people, many unborn girl children can be saved from being killed when they are still in their mothers' womb.

People only need to be told that a girl is no more a burden on the society!

Its true, especially in a nation like India where the President is a woman, the Speaker in the Parliament is a woman, the major parties in the country are headed by women and the number of women in various male dominated fields is ever-increasing!  Besides, a religious nation most of the Indian deities are goddesses!

Recently, ActionAid, an international agency working on issues like hunger, poverty, gender issues etc. held a brain-storming workshop on declining sex ratio in India. It was a co-incident that a day later when I got the invitation for the workshop, a dear friend of mine sent me a link on illegal but rampant use of ultrasound technique in India, for identifying the sex of the foetus and then aborting the same if it is a girl. 

The link (a sting operation by a western journalist) in the states  of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh was horrifying but was also an eye opener. Even educated people were involved in the henious crime of killing their unborn children - just because they  were girls.

A few basic reasons which can be identified o have been working behind this inhuman practice is dowry system. In India dowry system is prevalent in almost all the societies and communities. Even today, most families arrange the marriages of their children and that arrangement brings in the demand for expensive presents - which can be anything ranging from lavish parties to expensive cars or from jewellary to palatial houses. 

So the moment a girl is born the first thing that comes to parents' minds is how and from where the dowry would be arranged for her? And to save themselves from this Herculean task many parents decide to abort the child if it is diagnosed to be a girl. For this they depend on ultrasound technique.

The ultrasound is a useful technology to know any genetic deformities in the babies or to keep a track of the proper development of the babies in the womb. However the technology is used more for identifying the sex of the child. 

Although the government has made it mandatory for each ultrasound centre to specify that "no sex determination test is done" yet one cannot stop the parents to pay the doctor and also know the sex of the foetus. How can the law find out and if the doctors and the parents (in connivance to each other) misuse the technique and indulge in this illegal practice?  

The  law can only keep an occasional check on such ultrasound centres but what is actually required is changing the mindset of people. 

If a couple understands that a girl is not a burden. She can work in any sector today and excel. She can also be a respectable earning member of the family. Also, it is mostly the daughters who look after their parents when they are old. 

Lastly, and most importantly, if someday suppose all women are dead and only men are left - the world would then eventually come to an end as there would not be any new human being. But if all men are dead and only women are left, there would definitely be a few women who are carrying new lives in them and they would continue the world to move forward.

So please all men and women understand the value of being a woman. Don't underestimate her capabilities - a woman is in no way less than a man, rather in some cases she can do what a man cannot do - give birth to a new life!

Stop killing those who are creating the world! 

why we don't love hindi

Its high time though, the government has understood that the Hindi language, which is being used in the official documents is beyond comprehension of even those Indians, who are primarily Hindi speaking race. Finally, the government is seriously planning to do away with all those archaic Hindi words, which seem to appear straight from a dictionary and which are never used by people who are constantly conversing in Hindi.
Take a sample - here are a few Hindi words, which very few people would understand -- Lauh Path Gamini, tankad, kunjipatal, sanganak missil!!! They mean train, type writer, notice board, computer and file, in the same order.
These are the words, which not only an illiterate can not understand, they are incomprehensible even for the literate people. Even if people know the meaning of these words how many people use such words in their communication.
We all sometime or the other come across some official forms - it can be a simple train reservation form - we unknowingly turn to the English side and start filling the form. We don't even realise that the other side of the form is in our mother tongue. Reason is simple - it is so archaic and impractical.
This is also one reason, which has hindered popularity of Hindi to that level where every Indian could say that I love Hindi - I  love speaking Hindi - and I love reading Hindi.
To popularise a language it needs to evolve with evolution of the society which the 'sarkari' (official) Hindi never did.
Now some linguistics might argue against the move saying one should not play with the language and maintain its character.
But the question is - What is the use of language? The answer is - Communication. So, a language that fails to communicate needs to undergo a change.    
In normal life too we speak a language, which is though Hindi but is full of words from Urdu, Persian, English and even French. This day to day language neither sounds obnoxious nor it spoils the core nature of the language - rather it gives Hindi a cosmopolitan sound making it comprehensible for everyone.
That is why many must have felt relieved by the government decision to evolve the language with the changing times.
We look forward to seeing registration forms and official government documents in a new Hindi, which will be practical and understandable for all.

   

A Tort for those who Distort

A recent case that made headlines in India was the case of a young Bollywood actor - Ranbir Kapoor - a heart throb of millions of girls – who are going head over heels for this cute chocolate hero.

Recently, the police in the state of Maharashtra caught Ranbir peeing on a highway. He was instantly fined 200 rupees - about US$4. Ranbir not only paid the penalty he also vouched never to repeat his act again.

Who knows? In future he might become an icon for dissemination of message of sanitation and hygiene among the masses!

The other example is of a few government buildings in Uttar Pradesh – an Indian state known for illiteracy, poverty and population – and for paan and tobacco chewing men. The corners of all public places – even hospitals are coloured red with paan spit. A few years back the administration in a few buildings enforced heavy penalties for spitting. And voila! Those buildings are now comparatively clean.

In the times of recession, India is emerging as one of the most favoured destination for tourism. Every year it is witnessing an inflow of millions of travellers from different parts of the globe.

Thus, now it is no secret that sanitation and hygiene stand last anywhere on the agenda in the Indian society.

All road sides and all corners at any place – even at the tourist monuments – serve as 'conveniences' for men – especially in the urban areas. The sides of all railway tracks function as free and open toilets for people in urban and rural areas, both.

All those who visited Mumbai for Global Forum on Sanitation in October 2011, witnessed the most common scene on their way to or from the airport to the conference venue – people in congregation squatting on the roadsides or near railway tracks. The sight was visible even from the five-star hotel where the conference was being held - there was a railway track next to the hotel located next to Powai lake.

Spitting on the road is a common phenomenon in India and throwing rubbish anywhere on the road is taken as a birthright by most people. The worst aspect of the issue is that the educated and urban society too, does not pay any heed to issues of sanitation and hygiene, at times.

In such situation a strict implementation of Tort seems to be a solution, considering the examples of Ranbir Kapoor and the government buildings where strict law coupled with a penalty showed positive results.

A Tort is a civil wrong. The word comes from Latin expression ‘Tortum’ – which means to twist. The English equivalent is ‘wrong’ and in Roman it is ‘delict. 

Tort covers all those acts which are twisted, crooked or unlawful. In simpler words – people are expected to behave in certain ways and when they deviate from that path it is said that they have committed a tort.

The suggestion should ignite a normal reaction that a strict tort law will cause violation of human rights – especially of those who are weak and marginalised (in case of sanitation and hygiene it is people who do not have toilets).

So the answer to that is that we – working in this sector - are already pushing the governments to improve infrastructure in the field of sanitation. Now the need is to imbibe the habit in people to use these toilets and evolve a culture of self restriction in terms of not littering the road – not dirtying their surroundings – keeping in mind that by doing so they are saving themselves from violating the rights of others to live in clean and hygienic environment.

Don't Compare !

Don't compare!

But we have all reasons to compare and it is not like we are comparing apples with oranges - here the comparison is between two similar situations - the only difference is how they are handled by two different governments.

Here the two governments in question are United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ruling the world's biggest democracy - India and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a political party, which is ruling the most populous state of India - Uttar Pradesh.

Both the parties are led by women, incidentally. UPA is chaired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and BSP is led by its head Mayawati.

The latter (Mayawati) is getting a pat on her back for making the India's first Formula 1 Grand Prix a reality, that too, in a state, which is more popular for its illiteracy, poverty and backwardness. Today, authorities concerned are not getting tired of praising the F1 track, which passes all the international standards and which is getting accolades from every quarter.

If the F1 drivers are referring the track as "fast, flowing, beautiful and one of the best", the Federation Internationale de Automobile Jean Todt finds the construction "impressive and majestic".

What made the F1 track an international success, is a clever decision by the State Government led by its woman Chief Minister Mayawati. She handed over the responsibility to private player along with a clear deadline. The result is in front of the world!

The private company JayPee Sports International - a subsidiary of JayPee Group of Companies - a leading Indian company into infrastructures - which is also constructing major highways in the state - did the job in the given time. More importantly, the job was not only done, it was well done with no compromise on quality.

Now the comparison - most people have forgotten about the Common Wealth Games, which India organised recently. Just a mention of the word CWG brings back all black memories. India was ridiculed for not being able to complete the preparation in time. At the last moment, the Prime Minister had to intervene to save the face of the nation. For some time the situation had gone so grave that everyone thought of CWG slipping out of India's hands.

The games somehow happened and then followed the shameful dissection, which unearthed bad quality of work, fake payments and many other such grave anomalies. The ghost of CWG continues to haunt the nation and continues to stare squarely into the face of the ruling party of India.

On the other hand, no one even realised when the F1 track was ready for its maiden races in India!

So, the moral of the story is - the government cannot do everything alone but it has to depend on others for certain things. But the mantra is : when you depend on others - trust them fully and give them independence and time to deliver. In CWG the private players were involved by through the government and therefore the corruption. In Formula 1 it was the private player with no interference by the government.

The results of both the experiments are in front of the world.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati might be facing criticism for erecting monuments and her statues. But in this case she has proved her mettle and she has surpassed all leaders of the country.

It was said in joke that if the responsibility of organising CWG was given to Mayawati, th situation of CWG would have been completely different. She would have ensured quality and punctuality and the world would have gaped at India in awe.

Lastly and most importantly, the governments, which are supposed to spend money for the welfare of its people, especially for the poor and the needy, would not have spent huge sums of money on luxury sports. While the UPA government spent millions of rupees in organising CWG and drew flak from all quarters, Mayawati government had to spend nothing in putting up this grand show for which she is getting the accolades!

it's court again!

In India most of the public welfare work is done only when the judiciary intervenes and directs the governments to budge.

The trend has become quite frequent in the recent times - be it an issue as big as corruption and black money or an issue so sensitive as water and sanitation, which affects the lives of thousands of Indians all across the nation.

The governments mostly do not act on their own despite boasting of huge funds under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Rejuvenation Mission or heavy finances under Total Sanitation Campaign.

The most recent case is an appeal in the Supreme Court. The petitioner informed the court that over 300 schools in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh do not have any facility of drinking water (mind you, he is talking of drinking water as the question of safe drinking water does not arise in places where availability of water is in question).

Fortunately, the court took a serious note of the complaint and asked the government to ensure availability of drinking water in all the schools in a week's time. Not only Uttar Pradesh, a few other states like Jammu and Kashmir too, were asked to work on war footing.

Not only water, the court asked these states to ensure the facility of toilets in the schools as well.

In India, most of the girls drop out of schools after achieving puberty as majority of schools do not have toilets.

The best part of this case in the Supreme Court was that the court reminded the governments that it was violation of the human rights if it failed in providing drinking water and sanitation facilities to its people.

November 30 is the deadline for the governments to execute the court order - It would be interesting to watch whether the governments now act or continue to have a placid attitude to such an urgent need and come before the court with some lame excuse for its failure!

The Mindset !

It's all about the mindset! Or India would have set an example before the world by making its President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the champions of sanitation and hygiene.

Somebody with a high thinking about sanitation and hygiene must have placed the photos of these highest dignitaries of India on the doors of the washrooms of an Airport in Nagpur city in the state of Maharashtra. The photos were used to indicate 'men' and 'women'.

Although the photos were used in the washrooms of the VIP (very important person) lounge of the airport (which the mere mortals of the nation have no access to), yet a legislative assembly member of Maharashtra complained against the use of these photos.

His plea is that the display of these photos is against the discipline and the protocol. He has also demanded disciplinary action against the official responsible for this "huge mistake".

I wonder why no one has ever objected to photos of film stars and top models of the country on washroom doors.

India is a country where the sides of all the roads function as public urinals and where the toilets in any government office stink like hell (it is impossible for a person with a sensitive nose to pass in front of these toilets without covering not only his/her nose but also covering the whole face). The nation is losing at least 5 per cent of its GDP (gross domestic product) due to lack of sanitation and hygiene practices and facilities. India is also losing its tourism due to lack of sanitation facilities (tourists prefer to go to nearby nations like Sri Lanka or Thailand -which have better sanitation facilities)

The nation could have taken a lead in sanitation and hygiene sector in the South Asia by making its President and Prime Minister the brand ambassadors.

But the mindset is that washroom is a dirty place and putting a photo of a dignitary is an insult to the person.

In such situation how can we expect some celebrity to become the bran ambassador of sanitation and hygiene and disseminate the message down in the masses?

Kudos to Shah Rukh Khan (who is popular as King Khan) - India's one of the biggest film star who felt the urgency of spreading the message in this connection and agreed to become the brand ambassador of Sanitation and hygiene through Waste Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC).

Here is one more reason why Indian people follow the film stars rather than following their leaders!!!

No Monday Blues!

Monday blues... or Just another maniac Monday....
Who is not familiar with these common terms? We all have lived through these phases sometime or the other in our lives. But there are no such terms when it comes to pushing a story on as dry and non-glamorous a topic as sanitation.
"Mondays are the best days for journalists, who are working on WASH (Water Sanitation Hygiene) related issue, if they want to ensure that their stories get good placement and substantial space. The Parliament is closed on Sundays, the government offices remain closed, there are no activities during the weekends. And on Mondays, the editors are craving for stories. At such times reports on sanitation (which otherwise get discarded by the editors), have fairly good chances of getting prominent placement in the newspapers."
The idea (an encouraging one especially for scribes who are passionately writing on WASH) came from the Communication Specialist of World Bank Vandana Mehra. Mehra said this whilst addressing the journalists from South Asia and Africa, who are participating in the Global Forum on Sanitation, which is being convened by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), in Mumbai at present.
The idea was not hypothetical as it was preceded by a full page interesting reading on sanitation, which was published a few years back in one of the leading English dailies of India. The story simply displayed and expressed (through sketches, which were supported by facts) how unhygienic is the way the flour (the basic ingredient used for making cookies and pastries) is produced in India and many other neighbouring countries. It is stored amidst rats and cockroaches and is constantly handled by dirty hands.The intriguingly written story covered each and every aspect of the issue.
I am sure the mantra given by Ms Mehra's would prove quite useful for the journalists, who are working on WASH issues and are continuously struggling with their editors for getting their stories published.
And the mantra is - there is no maniac Monday for sanitation stories!!!

back to school....

There is an old saying.... ``Want to keep your brain agile, learn a new language''.

Having a strange kind of strong belief in adages (which are full of wisdom based on the rich experience of our forefathers/mothers), I got admission in the English and Foreign Languages University.

Languages. I started learning Spanish.

More than learning a new language (which I always loved) and sharpening my mental faculties, what I am enjoying the most is the feeling of being back in school.

I was under the impression that I might have lost the enthusiasm in life in general but to my surprise my excitement grew bigger than Himalayas.

I am the oldest (in age) student in the class - even my teacher is younger to me. My classmates are either in their late teens or in their early twenties - full of energy and enthusiasm - giggling on everything.

As a confident professional otherwise, I was in the impression that it would be cool in the classroom as it is in the life outside as a working woman.

I was wrong!

From day one my excitement was childlike and so was the nervousness. From buying new notebooks and syllabus books to dictionary etc - I felt all youthful once again.

Initially, I dreaded the two hour class thinking it would be too much but when I was there two hours were over before I could even look at my watch. What I discovered the next day is that I did not enjoy the gap (the classes are held on alternate days) and was keenly looking forward to my next class. I was anxious to finish my assignment and felt nervous in class sometimes.

Then came this five day break.

I thought its the best time to jot my feelings down and share the joy with my friends. I want to share how does it feel to be a student after finishing two phases of my life - a daughter/student and a mother/professional.

It is amazing!

Being a student - is the most amazing thing and the most interesting enjoyable time in a person's life - of course, provided your teacher keeps it interesting and does not turn the subject boring, and also does not turn himself into a living terror. Thankfully my teacher has made the subject more interesting.

I thank my stars for giving me this insight to become a student again.

politics of sentiments

Many eyebrows were raised when I wrote a line on Facebook in favour of Slut Walk - a protest march by women to tell the world that they can dress up the way they want and their dress is no excuse for a man to molest her.

My friends lectured me on culture and talked highly of our Indian heritage. They said the Slut Walk was against the Indian culture.

I am surprised that none of those people have uttered even a single line against Delhi Beli - the new movie of Amir Khan. I wonder if they find the content of the movie in sync with the Indian culture!!!

The reviews rated the movie quite highly (maybe people do not dare citicise Amir Khan as for them he symbolises intellectualism!).

Apart from mentioning that the movie is full of swear words, no body said anything else about it. Then there was a little brouhaha on a particular song. But none spoke about the rest of the garbage this film has served to its audience.

I went to watch the movie after reading the reviews. I had the impression that the movie might be about some issue (as Amir Khan is known to have been raising issues) or it would be pure fun movie.

I came out of the cinema hall sick and disgusted. I had taken a friend of mine who did not understand Hindi and it was his first Hindi movie. In some scenes I just kept mum as I didn't know where to look - leave aside translation.

The movie was full of vulgarity, obscenity, cheapness, and of course, swear words (which at places seemed out of place and unnecessary).

Oral sex was not only talked in cheap and vulgar terms but was also shown. The director did not mind showing a man touching a woman's body in a demeaning way.

The movie was literally full of shit. The scenes, which could have been amusing if they were shown once or twice, became sick as the director went overboard with them and repeated them end number of times.

I wonder how the Film Censor Board viewed the movie and what it saw in it and how it got passed without picking up its scissors.

However, now the same Censor Board is raising objections on a Arakshan - a film by Prakash Jha. The film talks of reservation policy of India.

``The film talks about the ramifications of the reservation policy and the commercialisation of education as seen through the experience of a particular group of people,'' in Prakash Jha's words.

However, since it might hurt the political interests of a few, the National Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes has issued a notice to the Central Board of Film Certification. The Commission has demanded to have a preview of the film.

``We want to see whether the film is suitable for screening or not,'' the Commission's explanation.

Fine!

Two different treatments to two different genre of films.

The whole scenario makes one thing clear....

If something is damaging for the political parties it will go through lot of screenings and all checks and boundaries but no one will give a damn if something is hurting the society.

Talk of real diseases Mr Health Minister and not of people's sexualtiy

The India health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad says homosexuality is a disease and it is unnatural.

Also, Chapter XVI, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code criminalises homosexual activity.

More - a few years back, the government of India - fighting a case against toning down of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code to help prevent spread of HIV/AIDS among the homosexuals - filed an affidavit in the court. The affidavit read - ``Homosexuality is a social vice. Descriminalisation of homosexuality may cause breach of peace. If it is allowed, evils of AIDS and HIV would further spread and harm people leading to big health hazards. It would degrade moral values of the society.''

The case had been filed by a group of some human rights activists - who had pleaded the court that ``homosexual act among consenting adults should not be treated as a criminal activity''.

Even the then Director General of NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation) Sujatha Rao had stated in one of the international conferences - "Section 377 places a huge constraint on Government's HIV/AIDS programme. By criminalising any behaviour, we increase the chances of it going underground.''

Her statement was buttressed by famous Indian writer Vikram Seth and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

A senior advocate in the Supreme Court, Anil Divan, too, in one of his articles, had quoted the American Psychological Association - ``Despite historical views of homosexuality, it is no longer viewed by mental health professionals as a `disease' or `disorder'. But obviously, neither it is simply a matter of deliberate personal selection. Homosexual orientation may well form part of the very fibre of an individual's personality.

And then Even the Delhi High Court in 2009 had observed -- "Moral indignation, howsoever strong, is not a valid basis for overriding individuals' fundamental rights of dignity and privacy. In our scheme of things Constitutional morality must outweigh the argument of public morality, even if it be the majoritarian view." Going even further, the court had found that Section 377 went against the Indian tradition and guiding political principle of inclusiveness.

"The big question is : Shouldn't we be allowed to pursue our sexual preferences in our own way rather than being dictated by the government or being governed by the law???

In matters of sex, the stress should be on ``consenting adults''. Any sexual act becomes a criminal activity if it takes place without the consent of the both involved - irrespective whether these two are men or women or man woman both.

Besides, more important point is - should or should not a country --

which despite all developments and scientific achievements still tops in maternal mortality, infant mortality, where women delivering their babies on the footsteps or in the corridors of hospitals is common (it does not become a matter of national concern as no minister discusses that), where immunisation of children to save them from deadly diseases is considerably low and many children die of common preventable diseases, whichis still fighting to eradicate polio, where majority of growing girl and expecting mothers suffer from acute anaemia, where a person dies of diabetes every ten second, where the number of people suffering from mental problems is remarkably high, where the number of Alzheimer disease is increasing --

should such a country concentrate on such a trivial and personal matter as its people's sexuality rather than making all our efforts to improve the pathetic health scenario of the nation ???